US Pilot Flying in Australia
Recently a friend of mine and I were discussing the possibility of flying for a living in Australia. I have always wanted to fly in Australia and am going to research the possibilities of doing so but thought I would appeal to the knowledge of the PPrune gang to point me in the right direction to see whether it would even be worth it.
I have been flying in the states for about 5 year now, first as an instructor and as of the last 3 years as a tour pilot. Am am looking to get into more of the utility side of helicopters and I think might have enough time to be eligible for some sort of job in Australia. I have heard that the market down there is a little better then in the US for gaining employment. I have talked to a couple people and some say that it would take me going down there, getting a license and traveling to a all the companies that I could to explore the employment opportunities and even then there is no guarantee. I know that as as American I would have to get an AU license and receive sponsorship for a work visa from a company before I could be legally able to work in AU. I am just curious, for those of you that work down in the Australian market, if it would be worth pursuing this.
I am interested in what the salaries are and whether the utility field is a viable market to break into down there and if not what different kinds of helicopter services they even have in Australia (EMS, ENG, Utility, Oil, SAR etc.) the might be looking for pilots.
Thanks for any info
MD